r^29] POND CULTORK. r,f)-, 



l.e sowed. On yiiiall ix.iid farms it will be iulvi.sablo, if many lish iiavo 

 (lied in the wiutei- ponds, to supply this loss l>y l)Myin.<;- fish, so as not to 

 cause an intennption in the working;- of the farm. But if the losses are 

 very heavy, it will, especially on large pond farms, become necessary 

 to make another distribution of the ponds, or if many youii!;;- fi.sh have 

 l)erished while an nnnsually large quantity of fry has successfully passed 

 through the winter, to place these in ponds which, owing to the loss of 

 young fish, would otherwise receive no fish at all. Another plan would 

 be to sow these ponds, so as to obtain a harvest of grain or grass, and 

 also to cause the fish which are placed in these ponds during thefollow- 

 ing year to grow more rapidly, with a view to make up for the loss sus- 

 tained. 



B. — The culture of Home other Jduds offish. 

 1. THE TEiacn {Tinea rul,jarh). 



An extensive and systematic culture of the tench will be found advan- 

 tageous only in very few localities, because this fish does not find 

 either a very ready or extensive sale, and does not grow^ as rapidly as 

 the carp. There are localities, however, where tench are esteemed as 

 much as carp, and bring as high a price. In many places the tench is a fa- 

 vorite soup-fish, and is s.old when it weighs only one-quart«rof a pound 

 at the same price which is paid for carp. On the Wittingau pond form 

 tench are considered marketable when they have reached that weight. 

 At one time I sold a good many of these fish at the same price as carp, but 

 the lightest weight at which I could find a sale for them was 1 pound. 

 It may, therefore, be recommended to cultivate the tench on a limited 

 scale with the carp ; but a good deal of this cultivation should be left to 

 nature, L e., the tench are not assigned any separate spawning aud 

 raising ponds. If possible, they should not be placed in spawning 

 ponds, as they will spawn there, and great difficulty will be experienced 

 j in separating their fry from that of the carp. The tench proves advan- 

 j tageous in carp-culture, as it continually roots in the mud, and thus 

 ! makes the food contained in it, such as snails, worms, &c., accessible 

 \ for the carp; and as it wull thrive even in very poor water, it is found 

 I in the carp ponds of most pond farms. Pike are very fond of tench as 

 ' an article of food; if they are to be placed in stock ponds, thoy should 

 I be of sufficient size to prevent their becoming an easy prey to the pike, 

 t If there should be on a pond farm several ponds in which carp will not 

 ' thrive owing to the poor quality of the water, or if the ponds of a small 

 pond farm should all suffer from this delect, it may be recommended to 

 ■ cultivate the tench systematically like the carp, and it may even be 

 ! profitable to cultivate them extensively. 



' y. THE CRUCIAN (Camsmis vuhjariH). 



I This fish is cultivated in the same manner as the carp and the tench. 

 The crucian can also stand poor and muddy w-ater better than the carp. 



